


Saviors

by angelmira



Series: Long Time Ago Outtakes [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: FRIDAY helps a lot, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Rhodey To The Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 10:25:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13479549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelmira/pseuds/angelmira
Summary: Just a snippet of how Rhodey was able to save Captain America and Tony in chapter 15 of LTA.





	Saviors

**Author's Note:**

> Edits and beta reading provided by lovely Rebecca.

**TAKES PLACE IN CHAPTER 15 IN “LONG TIME AGO”**   
  


Colonel James Rhodes had his useless ass situated on the floor as he was lifting weights. His grip was almost too painful, but not a living soul would discourage him from doing something productive. He couldn't stay in Tony's home and do nothing. He didn't mind living with the Avengers and his best friend, but the most important thing for him right now was to stay out of people's way and work on his ability to walk again. Well, walk was a too big a goal. He would take steering the wheelchair around the Tower without his muscles screaming in pain every night. Physical therapy was a pain in the ass. 

  
Rhodey's body hurt all over, but he wanted it that way. Pain meant he was still alive. Pain meant he could focus on anything other than being scared shitless due to the nose dive he had taken on the airfield. He lived through it to tell the tale only because of his genius best friend who had made a suit able to withstand the fall.

  
The first year when the Avengers had started working together, Rhodey had helplessly watched Tony take a missile and head through a portal to another dimension. He had seen him plunge from there back to the Earth without anything cushioning the fall. He had known it was the end for Tony, but somehow his friend had survived. Rhodey was grateful for the Iron Man suit, but he couldn't even fathom how hard it had to be for Tony to go out into the world again, to fly again. 

  
Now that Rhodey had suddenly been put into the same position, he was scared. God, he was paralyzed by the fear. Every night Rhodey continued to experience the fall, and every night he held his lips pressed painfully tight together, because if he opened his mouth and started screaming in terror, he feared he might never be able to stop. The horror of seeing the ground speeding closer made him sweat and panic over and over. 

  
The chance of going through the same thing ever again made him almost lose his mind and breakfast at the same time. The idea of flying once more was absolutely ridiculous. Colonel James Rhodes was not a man scared of many things, but deep down, he was a classic case of posttraumatic stress disorder. Rhodey couldn't fathom how much stronger Tony’s character and integrity had to be to overcome the symptoms.   
  


That man had been tortured by enemy soldiers. He had almost drowned in the sea. He had nearly crashed to the ground without his Iron Man suit and had been almost killed so many times everyone stopped bothering to count. Somehow, Tony was still able to function like a human being, even if half of his friends had turned his back on him and tried to hurt him as well. The jury was still out if some of them didn't want to kill Tony too.    
  


Rhodey had started trying to get closer to Tony after Siberia, but the man stayed stubbornly silent and kept him at arm's length.    
  


"Colonel Rhodes," FRIDAY interrupted Rhodey's routine with an urgent tone.    
  


"Yes?"    
  


"Sir, there is something wrong with my boss," she stated worriedly. "I can't access the footage from the TV station. They were supposed to be live five minutes ago. They broadcasted only a few seconds promo of Boss and Captain Rogers arriving at the studio, but nothing else. All of their cameras are off; someone shut down the studio altogether manually from the inside."   
  


During the long monologue, Rhodey had pulled himself into the wheelchair and navigated through the corridors into the elevator. "What do I have to do to access the cameras and get you into the system, FRIDAY?"    
  


Rhodey was sure he could find a way from Tony's workshop with FRIDAY's instructions. "You will have to walk me through the steps, FRIDAY. I'm not---" He stopped, because on Tony's workbench lay War Machine's face plate. Thanks to his inability to go out there, Tony might be in danger.   
  


"Colonel, the police received a report of shots being fired in the studio. I informed Vision about the development, but he's not sure he would be arriving in time."    
  


Scratch that. Shit. Tony was in danger and without his Iron Man suit. Vision and the Scarlet Witch were currently on the other side of the country doing their own PR event. "How do we get there in time, FRIDAY? How do we save them?"    
  


Rhodey's heart was beating frantically, because there was a way. A frightening, terrifying way. "What about my suit?" Impossible. He couldn't get into it, but if FRIDAY was somehow able to help navigate the suit to him, maybe they could work things out.    
  


"Not in working condition, Sir. But the new suit is almost ready."    
  


Rhodey hesitated for a moment. In his haste to get to Tony and save his ass, there was still the truth he couldn't ignore. "I can't walk, FRIDAY." His voice broke at the end of the sentence. Saving Tony was priority at the moment, but Rhodey was at the end of his rope of how to do it.   
  


"Sir, you’ll need to sit in the new wheelchair. It is a prototype of the War Machine suit. It is perfectly safe."    
  


He could almost picture the girl making an impatient gesture if Tony ever gave her a body. "Ok." It didn't change the situation much. Still, he succeeded to move himself from one chair to the other. "What now?"    
  


"Just trust me, Sir. Activating the suit in three, two, one."    
  


Rhodey barely paid attention to her voice because his feet were suddenly stuck in the sturdy metal and the construction under his backside moved. The plates were steadily clasped from his shins to his knees to his thighs, and then he wasn't sitting anymore, he was being pushed into a standing position, secured around his waist and in the next moment clad in the armor he knew so well minus his faceplate.    
  


"Watch out," FRIDAY warned him as said faceplate levitated with speed towards his face thanks to the magnetic mechanism. The whole suit shook, and without proper stability, Rhodey found himself on his back on the ground a second later. Well, this fall hadn't been that bad. 

  
"I am sorry, Sir. The speed has to be recalibrated, Boss already knows about that," FRIDAY informed him. 

  
The projection of the suit Rhodey was now seeing on the inside of his screen made him swallow nervously. The design had been rearranged. The blueprint he was currently watching had wheels under his weapons. FRIDAY was going through the major changes, but it didn't hold Rhodey's attention. All he could think about was how much Tony spent his time on the changes. 

  
It didn't matter how much he felt like a turtle put on its back, because there was proof that Tony wanted him to access the War Machine suit even with his disability.

  
"You are free to go, Sir. The doors are open." 

  
Rhodey closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. It didn't help at all. His heart was drumming like crazy. Somewhere out there, Tony was probably being held hostage. Rhodey activated the repulsors and found himself flying towards the ceiling. Terrified out of his mind, he quickly shut off the repulsors and crashed to the floor. This time on his face. 

 

Rhodey felt as if time had turned back to the beginning when he had tried to navigate the War Machine suit for the first time. Now, he was even more terrified. 

 

“You need to trust me, Sir. I’m recalibrating the trajectory, repulsors at 10%.” 

 

Rhodey heaved a big sigh. He closed his eyes, just for a moment to collect himself, and then listened to the AI’s instructions. Alright. He couldn't use his legs, but he could still fly. 

  
"What about the landing, FRIDAY?" Rhodey needed conversation to divert his mind from the city that was already speeding beneath him.

  
"Don't worry, Sir. I will get you safely to the ground without causing you any injury. The automatic landing system has already been calibrated for that possibility," she assured him in a confident tone. 

  
Rhodey believed her. She was still Tony's creation, and if he would have to believe in anything, Rhodey would never hesitate to trust Tony and his artificial intelligence. “Ok. I’m in your hands, FRIDAY.”

 

In a moment of momentary weakness, Rhodey whispered: “Don’t let me fall again, please.” 

 

“Never.” FRIDAY reassured him firmly. 


End file.
